By Kirstie Fitzgerald
As the heavens opened and the heavy rains set in last Wednesday, it was clear that football was not all about winning at the Point Cook Football Club.
With the ground starting to resemble a shallow swimming pool, the new Point Cook Football Club’s Youth Girls team was in the thick of it all, training hard for the upcoming season.
Whilst forming the first Youth Girls team is an achievement for the club, coach Belinda McErvale’s main aim for the season is to ensure the girls develop a passion for the sport and above all have fun.
“Overall one of the goals this year is just to ensure that football is fun for the girls and bonding together as a team,” she said.
“Whilst winning is important, success usually comes when you play well as one team and there is that bond between the group, so if they’re all happy, I’m a happy coach.”
With many young girls coming into the team without having any previous experience in the sport, McErvale said that the team had already showed great skill and team work throughout the preseason.
“We’ve only had about five training sessions so far and already the girls get along really well,” McErvale said.
“I’d say the majority of the team hasn’t played before so we have had to concentrate on a lot of the basic skills but that’s great because they are getting involved regardless and are picking it up fairly quickly so they are doing very well for beginners that’s for sure.”
With the majority of players aged between 13-15 years old, McErvale said that the side has really gelled well, particularly with so many of the players coming from various regions in the west.
“There are a number of girls who have come from all over the west, with some coming from Manor Lakes, a few from Altona as well as some locally so it’s a really mixed bunch of girls which is good for a new team.”
With the team being the first of its kind at the club, Junior Vice President Mark King said that McErvale was the obvious choice when it came to leading a team of young females in the sport for the first time.
“We’re really lucky to have someone of Belinda’s calibre on board at the club,” King said.
“Belinda’s not only an experienced player herself, having played female football for 10 years and still currently plays with Melb. Uni, but she is also an excellent teacher, teaching at the school right next to our old home ground, so we jumped at the chance to have her on board.
“She brings good footy knowledge and has a positive attitude to her players to get the best out of them.”
Having never played the sport before, 16-year-old Vesna Radalj decided to join the new team so she could play the sport she loved watching at home and make new friends.
“Football is my favourite sport and I just love watching the West Coast Eagles play,” Radalj said.
“I’ve come into the team by myself and I’ve made a few friends already, plus I’ve also learnt how to
handball the ball, which I found tricky at first so it’s been good.”
Whilst teammate Paige Cutter has had some previous experience playing Auskick, the 11-year old has enjoyed being part of the team and training for her first competitive game of the season.
“I’ve learnt how to do precise kicking and hand passing and working as a team…Belinda says it’s really important to communicate with one another so we do a lot of that at training too.”
Despite being one of the youngest members on the team, Cutter is wise beyond her years, urging all females who have ever wanted to play football to be brave and join a team.
“There are so many people out there who are afraid to play, maybe because they are girls and think only boys can play football, so I think that I just want to try to break that mould and get females playing in there, so we can all have a go at it.
“Football is something we can all do together and something that we can do as a team, so if more girls join in and play the better, because it’s just something that we can all do and feel welcome to be part of.”
For more information on female football in the WRFL and details on the Youth Girls competition please contact the league on 9315-5400.
Last Modified on 28/03/2014 09:20